An Untitled Love Story
by NinjasRockYourFace
Summary: When Claire decides to move out of the city and into Mineral Town, something happens between her and Gray. And it's precisely that, an untitled love story. Something that can't be summed up with a name. Rated T as a precaution. Contains some language.
1. Spring: Day 1

Ok, so this is my first fanfiction; sorry if it turns out absolutely horrible. :P

Here's to hoping it's at least tolerable. Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring: Day 1, Monday

"Ugh." Claire's hand landed on her alarm clock, ending that annoying beeping which, unfortunately, came every morning. Well, except on Sundays. "Great. Another day, another boring seven hours spent at work. What a drag," she mumbled to herself. Claire reluctantly heaved herself out of bed and went to get the paper before heading off to work. As she sat down with the paper and a cup of coffee, an ad stood out to her.

"Tired of the boring city life? Just want to get away from it all? Why not try your hand at farming? Located in scenic Mineral Town, this farm is the perfect getaway. Call 1-800-MOO-FARM if interested."

"Huh," she said to herself. Claire chuckled as an image of herself busting her back over a couple of turnips popped into her head. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to think of how much better it would be than living the rest of her life out here in the city, where she couldn't walk down the street without having some pervert slap her ass.

"OH MY GOD!" she yelled, soon after having an epiphany. Right away, she called the number in the ad. The farm was still for sale. "I'll take it!" She hung up the phone and started to get packed. "Oh wait," she said, once again picking up the phone, and punching in seven numbers. "Yes, is Harry there? Oh, right, this is Claire Dylan." Claire was put on hold for a couple minutes, so she idly started twirling a strand of dirty-blonde hair around her index finger.

"Oh, hello Harry, this is Claire. There's this one thing I need to talk to you about. You see, quite frankly, I have decided that the city life just isn't for me, so I'm quitting my job and moving out. ...EXCUSE ME?! Yeah, well you can go screw yourself!" she told him, and quickly slammed down the phone. "That was strangely exhilarating," she muttered, before going back to rummaging through her closet, pulling out what she needed to pack.


	2. Spring: Day 2

Big thanks to HmGirly12 and FishSoRule for being my first reviewers. :3 I'm glad you liked it. This next chapter might start out a little slow; I'm staying pretty close to the outline of the game for the beginning, but it'll get better as the story progresses. Well, it should, anyway. Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 2, Tuesday

Claire arrived in Mineral Town around noon the next day. The mayor, Thomas, showed her to the farm, and told her the basics. Where everything was, who lived in town, etc. He even gave her a map.

"As you can see, the farm isn't in very good shape. But that's why you're here! I'm counting on you to return this farm to it's former glory. Well, I've got some duties as mayor to fulfill. Stop by to see my sometime." And with that, he left Claire stranded on her farm.

"Huh? What's this?" Claire turned around and looked down to see a small brown puppy nudging her leg. "Aww. Well hello there, little guy." Claire bent down to pick up the small puppy. "Well, it doesn't look like you have an owner. What would you think if I kept you?" The pup yipped in reply. She laughed and patted the dog. "Okay."

Claire took the dog and bags into the small house. "Well, it looks like we don't even have a kitchen. Guess I'll have to eat out tonight." She whistled for her dog to follow her out. "And this field will have to be weeded." Claire proceeded to weed the field, and it took a lot longer than she thought it would. By 5 that afternoon, not even half the field was weeded.

"Hello? Anybody here?"

Claire looked up from weeding to see a brown-haired man wearing jeans and a white t-shirt standing at the entrance from the farm. She got up and went to go greet him.

"Hi. I'm Claire."

"Oh, so you're the new farmer Thomas has been telling everyone about. I'm Zack. I'm the person that picks up all the shipments that you'll be making." Zack walked over to the shipment box. "This here's the shipment box. You can deposit your shipments here. There's also one in the chicken coop and one in the barn. I'll come by at 5pm each day to pick up your shipments and pay you." He looked down into the shipment box. "It looks like you haven't shipped anything yet. Here, I'll give you a tip. That tree over there," Zack pointed to the tree next to the watering hole, "you can get honey from it and ship it."

"Okay." Claire smiled. "Thanks, Zack."

"No problem. I'll be back tomorrow at five." Zack started to walk out of the farm. He stopped and called back, "Oh, and I don't pick up on festival days."

Claire grinned and went back to weeding. At six, she heard her stomach grumble. "Well, I guess I should get something to eat before I finish."

Claire walked out of your farm and into town. "Hmm... now what was Thomas saying about places to eat? I think I heard him say something about an inn...?" Claire pulled that map Thomas had given her out of her pocket and looked at it. "Ah. So it was an inn he was talking about." She followed the directions on the map and stopped in front of Doug's Inn. She walked in.

"Hey, are you new in town? I don't think I've seen you around before." A red-haired girl wearing overalls and braids was looking at Claire.

"Erm.. Yeah." Claire smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Claire. I moved into the farm not too far from here."

"Oh! So you're the new farmer mayor Thomas has been telling everybody about. I'm Ann. I help my dad out here at the Inn." Ann shook Claire's outstretched hand. "Hey Dad! We have a customer. It's the new farmer that moved in this afternoon."

"Hey, Ann, would you mind being a little more quiet. We have people staying upstairs, you know." And man holding a dish towel walked out from the back room. He stopped upon seeing Claire. "Ann, who's your friend here?"

"Dad, I just tol-," Ann was cut off by Claire.

"I'm Claire. I just moved into the farm south of here."

"Welcome. I'm Doug. I run this inn. Would you like something to eat? You look hungry."

Claire smiled. "Actually, I was here to get something to eat, so, yeah."

Doug handed you a menu. "Please, have anything you'd like. It's on the house."

"Really? Well, thank you!" Claire grinned and looked at the menu. "I'll just have some pizza and water."

"No problem," said Ann. "It'll be out in a couple minutes." Ann walked into the back room.

Next thing she knew, Claire was surrounded by a group of people, trying to talk to her.

"Hey, you're the new farmer, right?" they all seemed to say at once. Claire was overwhelmed.

"Hey, hey. Give the girl some space." Doug came over, and attempted to clear out the group. The best he could do was make them back up a little.

Recovering her voice, Claire said, "Hello. Yes, I'm the new farmer that moved in this afternoon. The name's Claire."

One by one, people came up and said hello. By the time everyone was done greeting Claire, her pizza and water had come out. "Hope you enjoy the food," said Ann.

Claire finished eating soon, and used her napkin to wipe her mouth. "Ann, Doug, thanks so much for giving me the pizza. It was delicious." She stood up and left a small tip on the table. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Are you sure you would like to stay for a couple of drinks? It'll be another chance to get to know more people in town." Doug offered.

"Oh, I'd love to, but-,"

"Dad, that's a great idea! Claire, why don't you stay?" asked Ann.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay for a little while," Claire decided, taking a seat at the bar.

"Great! The people should be arriving soon. It's about that time of day," said Ann.

A couple of hours later, the bar was full of people, and Claire had already had a couple of glasses of beer. Everyone had started talking to Claire, and they all seemed to be getting along well with her.

She looked to her left as she saw a boy about her age sit next to her at the bar. He was wearing a baseball cap and tan-colored shirt and pants. "Hey, I'm Claire. I moved into the farm just south of here."

"Gray," was his quite short reply.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Gray," Claire said, trying to spark up a conversation.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Gray was not one for conversing, seeing as he only nodded in response.

"So, uh, do you like it here in Mineral Town?" Claire asked, trying to get a complete sentence out of the guy.

Gray thought for a couple seconds. "No, not really," he concluded, turning back to look at his drink like it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

And just like that, Claire was pissed. Hell, she was only trying to get to know the guy, and he was basically ignoring her. "Hey, what's your problem? All I'm doing is trying to talk to you!"

"Actually, I don't have a problem. Though it would seem that you are making a scene, when really, there isn't a need for one," Gray retorted, holding back a smirk.

"Oh, I'll show you a scene," Claire informed him, standing up and proceeding to pour her remaining beer in his lap. "See you later… Or maybe not," she finished bitterly, stomping out of the bar and leaving behind a bewildered Gray. She had meant to make a dramatic exit, but due to the few beers she had downed, she stumbled over the doorsill before loudly closing the door.

"Great," Claire muttered to herself, "My first day here, and I've already made myself look like some kind of psychotic bitch." She entered her house, pulled on some pajamas, and slipped into bed, still fuming.


	3. Spring: Day 3

This next chapter is going to be a fairly short one, and I apologize for that. However, I will try to update this story as soon as possible, which I hope I can do at least three or four times a week. Some other good news: with winter break coming up in a couple of weeks, I will be have time to write longer chapters, and more of them. :) Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 3, Wednesday

Today, the bright sunlight slanting through the window woke Claire up. Stretching, she yawned and changed into her work clothes. _Yet another day of cleaning up that field…_ she thought. A flashback of the night before at the inn popped into her head. _I should probably apologize to what's-his- I mean Gray- at some point too. Damn you, conscience._

She walked outside, followed by her pup. "Well, I guess I should name you, shouldn't I?" Her dog yipped as though he was saying yes. "What do you think of the name Bullet?" He wagged his tail. "Well then, Bullet it is." Claire smiled and walked over to the tree to get the honey Zack told her about. "I wonder how much this is worth." She dropped the honey into the shipping bin and walked into the clearing behind her farm.

"Hmm, interesting," she mused, picking up what look like a tangle of red strings and leaves. Curious, she tore off a miniscule piece off of the bunch and placed it on her tongue. "EW!" she shouted, spitting it out and wiping her tongue off. "Note to self: never, ever do _that_ again." She headed back into her farm, and threw the red bunch of stuff into the shipping box, hoping that it was worth something.

Around 1 o'clock or so, Claire sauntered into town, going no place in particular. As she was passing the blacksmith's shop, she glanced over to see Gray emerging, and he didn't look too happy. Then again, he hadn't looked that happy at the bar last night, either. _I might as well get this over with_, she thought. "Hey, Gray!" she called, to get his attention.

Gray's head snapped up, but as soon as he had spotted Claire, his eyes narrowed. "What?" he asked, sounding slighting irritated.

"I, uh, just wanted to apologize for what I did last night. It was stupid and immature, and I'm really sorry," Claire burst out, and smiled timidly.

"Hn," Gray responded, and started to walk towards the direction of the library.

"Hey, wait!" Claire insisted.

"Now what?" Gray inquired, becoming impatient.

"Do you accept my apology?" Claire questioned, her face scrunched up into a confused expression.

"No," Gray informed her, and once again started walking off.

"What can I do to let you know that I am?" Claire murmured, looking down at her feet.

Gray heard this and turned around (again) to face Claire. _This could be interesting_, he thought. "Kiss me."

Claire looked up, wide-eyed, at Gray. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said," Gray told her. "Kiss me."

Claire's expression suddenly turned obstinate. "Forget it," she said, walking swiftly past Gray and back into her farm.

Gray chuckled, but though he wouldn't admit it, he was slightly- just ever so slightly- disappointed. He resumed his walk to the library, this time uninterrupted.


	4. Spring: Days 4 to 10

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope all of you guys enjoy reading it. Again, I give a big thanks to my reveiwers. :) You guys rock!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Days 4-10, Thursday-Wednesday

For the next few days, Claire deliberately avoided Gray, not making eye contact when he was around. Also for this reason, she spent more time on her farm than she normally would have. After a couple of days, Claire had had enough money to buy a cow, which she promptly named Cookies. She had also started to become pretty good friends with Ann, whom she could confide in without feeling awkward or anything. And since Claire frequently ate at the inn, seeing as she had no kitchen in her tiny house, she had plenty of time to visit with Ann.

"You know what I think?" Ann asked Claire one afternoon, putting a hand under her chin.

"No," Claire firmly stated, as if she had read Ann's mind; it probably had something to do with a certain guy, whom she was certainly trying to avoid, especially since, even though he acted like a complete jerk towards her, was kind of good-looking. Which was a bad, bad thing for Claire to think about, since she didn't really want anything to do with relationships.

"Let me finish, then you can answer yes or no," Ann commanded. "You see, I'm thinking that you should give Gray a taste of his own medicine. It would catch him off guard, and then he would be the one feeling awkward whenever you were around. It's the perfect plan! Of course, it would be even more perfect if you acted normal around him beforehand. He wouldn't even suspect it!" she conspired. Claire conjured up a mental image of Ann rubbing her hands together with an evil grin on her face, while laughing maniacally.

"You're a crazy lady," Claire jokingly accused her. "Although… I have to admit that the plan isn't too bad."

"See! I told you it was a perfect plan," Ann said, pointing a finger at Claire.

"Whoa, just because I said it wasn't bad doesn't mean I'm going to do it," said Claire.

"Aww, come on," Ann pleaded. "After that, you wouldn't have to worry about him accepting your apology or anything. No more strings."

"You make it sound like we're in a relationship or something," Claire pointed out. "But… that would be nice," she conceded. "Fine. But don't expect much."

Ann clapped her hand together, a triumphant smile etched on her face.

* * *

"Good morning, Cookies," Claire said, whipping out her brush and quickly swiping it across Cookies' back. It had been a couple of days since her discussion with Ann, and so far, things had been going pretty well. She no longer maintained a shy personality when Gray was near. Speaking of which, she would have to go pick up her watering can that she had left with Saibara to improve. Oh, and a milker, too; Cookies was supposed to start giving milk soon.

* * *

"What can I do for you, Claire?" asked Saibara as she walked in. Gray looked up as she went to stand in front of the counter and then looked back down at what he was currently working on. 

"Hello Saibara," Claire greeted politely. "I was wondering if my watering can was done. Also, I'm here to buy a milker." She smiled appreciatively.

"Of course. I'll go get your watering can from the back room," Saibara replied, shuffling off. "You know Gray, you could learn a lesson or two from Claire," he scolded.

"Yeah, yeah," Gray grumbled, somewhat displeased.

As soon as Saibara was out of earshot, Claire snickered, amused with what Saibara had said to his grandson.

"What?" Gray asked, irritated.

"Oh nothing," Claire responded cheerily, a wide grin on her face.

"Whatever," Gray dropped the subject. "So, you've got a cow?"

"Sure do," Claire said, just as cheerful. "She's grazing on the field, if you want to come take a look at her."

"Hah. Right," Gray sarcastically remarked.

Claire raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't like cows?"

"Oh, cows are fine. I just have a thing against girls that pour beer all over my lap," Gray smirked, probably hoping he had irked her.

Claire was about to snap back at him when Saibara came back with her watering can in one hand and a milker in the other. "Here you go, Claire," he said, placing the two tools on the counter. "Feel free to comeback anytime; there aren't many people in town that come by here these days."

"I sure will," Claire said, a cheerful smile back on her face. "Saibara, Gray," she nodded, taking her leave after paying for their services. Saibara waved, and Gray merely grunted.

Later that evening, Claire walked into the inn to find that the only available seat at the bar was, lo and behold, next to Gray. She took the seat next to him, somewhat reluctantly, and had Ann get her a beer. Being a person that didn't really enjoy silence, Claire proceeded to start up a conversation with Gray. She would've loved to have had somebody else to talk to instead, but the person sitting to her right was Karen. And quite honestly, it was sometimes hard for Claire to convince Karen that she didn't quite _swing that way_, especially when Karen had downed more than her fair share of alcohol.

"Hi Gray," Claire started, taking a sip of her beer. Of course, with this being Gray, all she got in response was a nod. She decided that she would have to ask him a question that would require more than a one-syllable answer, if she wanted to converse at all. "So how's work at Saibara's going?"

"Same old, same old. Still as analytical as ever," he replied, finally using more than a one-worded answer.

Claire just stared at him, her mouth hanging open dramatically.

Gray just ignored this. "I may not talk much, but it's not like I don't know how," he reminded her.

Claire's melodramatic gawking was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. Actually, it was more like a big thump. She turned around to see Karen, not quite drunk, but getting there, waiting for Claire to notice her. "Yes, Karen?" she asked, hoping Karen wasn't going to try to drag her off to one of the upstairs bedrooms to do who-knows-what. Claire would rather hold back Karen's hair for her as she puked her guts out instead of trying to get her to back off.

"Hey, Claire," Karen started, slurring her words. "You wanna join me in a drinking contest?"

"Actually, Karen, I'd rather not," Claire informed her. She could feel Gray's eyes on her as she attempted to back out of the offer.

"Oh come on. You know you want toooooooooo," Karen said, swaying a bit.

"Well, you're just going to have to wait for another time, Karen," Claire persisted. She was trying to pry Karen's hand off of her wrist, which she still wasn't sure how it had gotten there, when she pulled a little bit too forcefully, and ended up having Karen topple on to her, sending them both crashing to the floor. Even worse though was that Karen had somehow managed to drag Rick with her, resulting in way too much weight pushing Claire against the wooden floorboards.

"Ow, ow, owww," Claire groaned, waiting for the two people to get off of her. Surprisingly, it wasn't too long until the weight on her was relieved. She glanced up to see Gray holding his hand out to her. She grabbed his hand and stood up, and quickly put some money on the table. "I, uh, think I'm going to go, now," she said, walking slowly and painfully towards the door.

When Claire got outside, she noticed that Gray was walking beside her, slowing his pace to match hers. "Can I walk you home?" he asked.

"Um… why?" Claire wondered, obviously shocked.

"After what happened back there, I'm not sure if you should walk home alone. Karen might come after you and tackle you to the ground again," he answered sarcastically.

"Sure, if you really want to," Claire said, still shocked.

The rest of the walk back to the farm continued in silence, and when Claire was at her doorstep, she awkwardly held out her hand, not sure what else to do, and thanked Gray for walking her home.

"See you around," Gray said, readjusting his cap and walking out of the farm.

"Yeah…" Claire murmured, though he was already out of hearing distance.


	5. Spring: Day 11

Ack! Sorry I haven't updated this fanfiction in a while. I've kind of been having a writer's block, so I've been spending a lot of time brainstorming. Glad to say that I've thought up quite a few good ideas. :) I'll try to update sooner after this chapter. Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 11, Thursday

Claire looked behind her to see Cookies grazing in the grass. "Hi, Cookies!" she yelled to the cow, ringing the bell. Cookies glanced up and started running, or whatever it is cows do, towards Claire. Claire smiled, thinking about how happy Cookies was to see her. Unfortunately for her, it seemed that as Cookies was getting closer, she was also getting faster. "..What?" Claire's eyes widened, realizing that Cookies was going to smash into her, whether or not she dashed out of the way. She squeezed her eyes shut, using her arms to protect her face, and braced for the impact.

"Ah!" Claire bolted up into a sitting position, her hair in horrible disarray. This time, she opened her eyes to find a pair of green ones staring back at her. Claire let out a loud scream, and jumped so far back that she hit her head on the wall behind her.

"OW!" She put a hand up to the back of her head, hoping there wouldn't be a big bump there later. "Who the hell are you?" Claire demanded, pointing a finger at the woman sitting at the end of her bed. Wait, was she… floating?!

"Hello, Claire," the woman said, seemingly unfazed by her screams and inquiries. "I am sorry to have startled you. Maybe I should come back in a couple hours, when you have had a chance to clean up and recollect your thoughts." With that, the woman disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke.

Claire was still lost for words. "What the…?"

She was snapped out of her confusion by a series of urgent knocks on the door. "CLAIRE?!" someone yelled from the other side of the door.

Claire jumped out of bed, and smoothed down her hair. Or tried to, anyway; it still stuck out in all directions. She walked swiftly to the door and opened it to find Gray standing there, trying to catch his breath.

"Gray?"

"What the hell happened? You could have woken up the whole town with your noise," Gray said, looking slightly annoyed.

Claire ignored his question, figuring that he would just think she was crazy to have seen a floating woman who could disappear with the snap of her fingers. "What are you doing over here, Gray? Isn't today your day off?"

"What? Uh, no. I mean, yes, but I always stop by the shop in the mornings. And it isn't that far from your farm, by the way," he hesitantly stated.

Claire raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and a grin appeared on her face, like a light bulb had just turned on in her head. "I know what this is all about!" she exclaimed, oddly cheerful.

Gray adjusted his cap so she couldn't see his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Claire's grin grew wider. "You wanted to see my cow, didn't you?"

Relief showed on Gray's face. "Oh, yeah, that's right." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but Claire didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Okay, hold on for a minute." Claire bounded back into her small house and appeared seconds later with her dirty-blonde hair in a messy ponytail, holding a brush, a milker, and a bell. She stuffed the tools into her bag, and grabbed Gray's hand. "Come on, she's in the barn." Claire dragged Gray over to the barn and opened the door. She was greeted by Bullet, who was jumping on her legs.

"Hi, Bullet!" Claire cooed. She had momentarily forgotten that her puppy had spent the night in the barn. She rang the bell, and waited for Cookies to come rushing out of the barn.

"Isn't she great?" Claire asked, brushing Cookies' back, while Cookies mooed contentedly.

"Yeah, I guess," Gray responded. "I don't really know that much about cows."

"Oh! Well, there's really not that much to know about them, I guess. I'm still learning, so there's still a lot of stuff that's new to me, too. She's supposed to start giving milk soon, though. I wonder when that will happen," Claire trailed off, absentmindedly watching the clouds.

"Hello? Claire?" Gray waved his hand in front of her face, snapping her back to reality.

"Oh, sorry. I must have spaced out." She placed the brush back in her bag. "Hey, do you want to do something later?"

"Why?" Gray asked, hesitant.

"Well, I wanted to go get something for Saibara. It's his birthday today, is it not?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Did you want to come with me to the mines? Maybe we can dig up some ores for him or something."

"Uh, I'm not really big on birthday stuff, Claire," Gray said.

"Oh." Claire seemed a little bit disappointed. "Okay then," she said, her voice cheerful again. "Well, I have some other things to do, anyway. Maybe some other time."

"Maybe," Gray agreed. "Bye, Claire." With that, he walked out of the farm.

* * *

"Phew. I'm exhausted," Claire sighed, immersing herself in the steamy water at the hot springs, keeping her towel wrapped around her body. She had just finished mining some ores for Saibara, mostly silver and gold, and a couple mystril.

"So, Claire, have you finally recollected your thoughts?" a voice asked. The same woman from that morning appeared before Claire, floating over the water.

"HOLY CRAP!" Claire practically yelled. After a minute of trying to breathe normally, she managed to blurt out "Would you mind not scaring me to death?"

The woman merely chuckled. "I apologize, Claire. I just thought that you would have been expecting me. I did tell you this morning that we would meet again later today."

"Oh. Right. So who are you?"

"I am the Harvest Goddess," the woman replied, waiting for Claire's response.

"…You're kidding, right?"

"Would you like me to prove it?" With a snap of her fingers, a white flower appeared in her hand, and with another snap, it disappeared.

"Yeah, well you're probably just really good at magic tricks," Claire retorted.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Claire! If I wasn't a goddess, would I be floating?" she snapped, rising up just a bit more to prove her point.

"Hmph. Fine. So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Ahem. Well, I just wanted to introduce myself."

"I'm Claire, you're the Harvest Goddess. There. Now we have been introduced."

"Also, I wanted to let you know that I live here in this pond," she informed Claire, pointing to the pond just a few feet away. "If you ever need to speak with me, just come here. It does get a little bit lonely around here, and I would appreciate if you would visit every once in a while. The Kappa isn't very good company, anyway."

"The Kappa?" Claire asked, intrigued.

"Oh, he's a green being that lives in the lake at the base of Mother's Hill. He enjoys cucumbers, if you ever want to meet him," the Harvest Goddess said. "It was pleasant meeting you, Claire."

Before Claire could get another word in, the Goddess was gone. "That was strange…"

* * *

After leaving the hot springs, Claire went into town, hoping that she could find Saibara so she could give him his birthday present. However, since it was the blacksmith's day off, Saibara was not at the shop. Thus, she was left wandering around the town, searching high and low for the blacksmith. Not finding him in any of the shops, she walked into the inn, hoping he would be there.

"Gah," Claire muttered, dropping onto one of the bar stools.

"What's up, Claire? You look tired," Ann said, walking over to stand in front of the discouraged farmer.

"Oh, it's just that I can't find Saibara. It's his birthday today, and I have been trying to give him his gift, but so far, no luck."

"Oh. Well, I think Gray walked in just a little bit ago. He's upstairs in the room at the end of the hall if you want to give it to him to give to Saibara," Ann encouraged.

Claire's head snapped up. "Gray stays here?"

"Well, yeah. Where did you think he stayed?"

Claire thought for a while. "To be honest, I really haven't thought about it."

"Well, he's up there. Just go give the gift to him. He'll probably see Saibara sooner than you." Ann said. "Speaking of which, how's the "plan" going?"

"The plan? Wha-oh! _That_ plan."

"Yes, _that_ plan. Do we have any other plans I should know about?" inquired Ann.

"No, it's just… never mind. Anyway, he walked me home last night, if that's anything. Apparently, he thought that I was no match for Karen or something," Claire said, dismissing the subject.

"Well of course it's something!" Ann exclaimed. She looked as if she was ready to start squealing while jumping up and down.

Claire sighed. "Ann, you overreact too much. He was just being courteous. It's no big deal."

"Claire Jennifer Dylan, it is a big deal and you know it. He walked _you_ home. Now tell me, aside from being courteous, why would he walk you home?"

"Um, because it was dark, and some criminal or gangbanger could have mugged me?" Claire supplied, hoping Ann would buy it.

"Claire, this if freaking _Mineral Town_. Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, happens here."

"Well I don't know, Ann. Why don't you tell me?"

"He. Likes. YOU. Do I have to spell it out for you? Gray. Likes-," Ann stopped drawing out the syllables.

"What do I like?" Gray asked, walking up to the bar.

"Hm? Oh, nothing," Claire said.

"Well, actually, I was telling Claire that you like to go to the library often," Ann lied.

"Oh. Yeah, there are some good books there. Anyway, Ann, I need a broom and dust pan; one the vases broke."

"Oh, of course." She hurried into the back room and soon came out, and handed the things to Gray, who muttered "thanks" and went upstairs.

As soon as Gray was out of earshot, Ann continued. "He likes you, Claire."

"Hah. Yeah, and I invented light bulbs."

"Be serious, Claire. Just for once. I know for a fact that Gray didn't need to come down here for a broom and dust pan."

"And what makes you say that?"

"One, there aren't any vases in his room, and two, I would have heard the crash," Ann listed off.

"Ann, really. He doesn't like me. End of story," Claire finished.

"Okay, you know what? Here, tomorrow night, we are having a meeting on this subject. Me, you, Elli, and Mary. Meet me in my room."

"Well gosh, Ann, you might as well invite Karen and Popuri, too," Claire sarcastically remarked.

"Oh! Great idea, Claire! I'll go call them right now." Ann rushed into the back room. "Remember, Claire, tomorrow morning, 8 o'clock!" she called back.

Claire sighed. "Well, I might as well give this to Gray so he can give it to Saibara," she muttered to herself, glancing down at the bundle of ores next to her stool.

Reluctantly, she stood up, grabbed the gift, and trudged upstairs. Claire reached the last door in the hall, and knocked on it a couple of times. Gray answered the door, and his expression seemed surprised when he spotted Claire.

"Hi, Gray. I, um, couldn't find Saibara today, so I was wondering if you could give him this gift the next time you see him?" she asked, starting to blush when she remember what Ann had told her earlier.

"Sure," he replied. He took the gift from Claire, and walked in to place it on the table, and walked back to the door.

"Hey, could you do something for me in return?" he asked.

"Y-yes," Claire stammered. Maybe it was just her, but Gray's face seemed unusually close. And the pause in their conversation was not helping. At all.

"Could you… bring these back down to Ann for me?" he held out the broom and dustpan out to Claire.

"Uh, y-yeah. No problem." Claire turned and started walking down the hall.

"Thanks, Claire," Gray called out behind her.

* * *

On the walk home, Claire kept a mantra of "Wow, I feel like an idiot." 


	6. Spring: Day 12

Thanks for all of the awesome reviews, guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter; I think it might be a little rushed. I might rewrite this chapter, depending on the reviews, etc. Just tell me what you guys think. Also, as a head's up, if there are any words that are missing the letter 'c', it's because that key on my keyboard keeps sticking. :P Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 12, Friday

"You rang?" Claire grumbled into the telephone next to her bed, half smirking because she used one of her favorite Adam's Family quotes. She had just woken up after being pounced on by Bullet moments before the phone rang loudly in her ear.

"CLAIRE!" Ann yelled on the other line. "Where are you? It's almost 8:00!"

"Oh crap. Is it really?" Claire asked. A glance down at her watch told her "yes".

"Let me guess. You forgot again, didn't you?" Ann said, impatient.

"No, I'll be there. Just give me five minutes," Claire said, getting up and walking over to her mirror. "Make that ten."

* * *

Claire was just about to open the door to Ann's room when it was wrenched out of her hand in a matter of seconds. Standing the doorway was an excited Ann, who looked like she was ready to jump out of her socks. She grabbed Claire's hand and dragged her into the room. "C'mon! Everyone else is already here!"

Sitting in a group on the floor were Elli, Mary, Karen, and Popuri, looking quite confused. The only details Ann had given them were to be at her room, 8 o'clock sharp.

"Hi guys," Claire greeted, sitting down between Mary and Ann in the circle. She was met by various murmurs of "Hey," "Hello," and "What took you so long?"

"Okay, so," Ann started, clapping her hands together. "We have all gathered here today, on the morning of Spring twelfth-" was how far she got before everyone else in the circle smacked their foreheads.

"Before we grow old, please," Karen reprimanded.

"ANYWAY," Ann continued, "I was hoping that I could get you guys to help me talk some sense into Little Miss Claire, here." Ann recounted the past happenings between Gray and Claire in a matter of minutes, and explained why, exactly, Claire needed some sense talked into her.

Before letting everyone voice their opinions, Claire made sure to inform the group that Ann might have fabricated the story _just a little bit_.

"Well, I think it sounds like he's interested in you. If you like him, you should go for it," Elli reflected.

"Yeah! Plus, you two would make **such** a _cute couple_!" Popuri added, staring off dreamily into the ceiling.

"All you need to do is get him drunk, and then-"

"KAREN!" everyone shouted simultaneously.

"My bad," Karen said, smiling mischievously. "But you know what I mean."

While Ann, Elli, and Popuri were busy scolding Karen, and giggling at all their little jokes, Claire glanced over at Mary, whom she noticed had been pretty quiet the whole time. "Hey, Mary, are you okay? You seem a little spacey today."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just a little tired; I was up late last night writing a couple chapters for this new story I'm working on, that's all," Mary replied.

"Oh. Well what do you think of this whole predicament?" Claire asked.

"Um, well, you see, I don't know if this is really something I should butt into," Mary said timidly.

"Wait… Mary, do _you_ like Gray?" Claire said, somewhat surprised. Of course, she just had to say this when the rest of the group had finally stopped talking.

Almost instantaneously, the other four in the group were buzzing around Mary and Claire, asking questions and giggling again.

Seeing as the subject matter had temporarily been lifted off of her, Claire tried to slip away unnoticed before this meeting became complete chaos. She was stopped by Mary pulling her back onto the floor next to her. "Oof!"

"Hey, you're not going anywhere. This is supposed to be a meeting about _you_, remember?" Mary whispered into Claire's ear.

"Oh. Right," Claire whispered back.

* * *

"Hey, sorry for dragging into this whole thing," Claire said to Mary once they had gotten out of the Inn.

"It's fine, Claire. I just think we're lucky to have gotten out of that chaotic mess alive," Mary replied, chuckling.

"True," Claire agreed, laughing, too.

* * *

The young farmer decided she would tag along with Mary to her library; she needed to catch up on some reading anyway. Upon entering the library, her breath caught. There were so many books in this place; why wasn't there anyone else in this astonishing library?

"What do you think?" Mary asked Claire, an amused expression on her face.

"It's… wow. Why aren't there any other people here?" Claire asked, still in awe.

"Quite honestly, I'm not sure myself," Mary said, shrugging.

"Well, do you mind if I go upstairs and look at some books?"

"Go right ahead." Mary smiled and went to sit at her desk, looking through some papers.

Claire ventured upstairs and started looking through books in the romance section; her favorite genre. She pulled a book out of the shelf that caught her eye, "Yours Truly." After skimming the summary, Claire went back downstairs with the book and pulled up a chair so she was sitting across from Mary.

"That's a good book," Mary said, glancing up from her papers.

Claire smiled in response, leaning back in the chair and opening the book up to the first page. "So how's your story coming along?"

"Good. I've written probably about sixty pages or so; about five chapters."

"Wow. You must have a lot of patience and determination to be able to write something like that," Claire complimented.

Mary smiled. "Yes, it has had its rough patches, but I think the story will turn out well."

"So, Mary, do you like Gray? You never answered back at the Inn," Claire asked, swiftly changing the subject. She closed her book and leaned forward, eagerly awaiting the librarian's answer.

"Oh! Um, well, you see…," Mary started, quite flustered. She was just about to say something else when the bell above the door rang and in walked, lo and behold, Gray.

"Eep!" Mary was so started that she leapt up at the sound of the bell, sending her papers flying. In return, this caused Claire flinch back, since she had been leaning so far forward, and sent her crashing backwards onto the floor.

"_That's the second time this week that the back of my head has had chances to become well acquainted with the floor_," Claire thought. She opened her eyes, coming face to face with Gray, who was standing over her, giving her a strange look. "Hello, Gray. Fancy meeting you here."

Gray merely shook his head. "You don't have very good luck, do you?" He stepped back as Claire rolled off of the chair and proceeded to stand up. Dusting herself off, she walked over to give Mary a hand in picking up the papers, which were strewn all over the floor.

* * *

"Well, now that's all cleaned up," Claire said, picking up the fallen chair and moving it back to its original spot. Mary had all her papers stacked neatly on her desk and Gray was quietly scanning the shelves for a book.

"I'm sorry, Claire. You aren't hurt, are you?" Mary asked.

"For the tenth time, I'm fine Mary." Claire rubbed the back of her head, trying not to wince. "See? Completely fine."

"If you say so," Mary said, obviously still concerned. She turned around to look for a pencil that had rolled off the desk.

Taking a look at her hand, Claire's eyes widened. "Um, guys, I don't think my head should be bleeding."

* * *

"You should be fine, Claire; there's just a small cut on the back of your head," the Doctor informed the worried farmer. "And a rather large bruise, if I might add. Were there other times that you hit your head before this one?"

Claire thought for a moment. "_Well, there was that one morning that the Harvest Goddess showed up. And the night at the bar. And just now, of course."_

"A couple," Claire said, feeling stupid.

"You really should be more careful…" The Doctor wrote a few things on his clipboard, and then set it down on the counter. "Just take it easy for a while, and you'll be fine. If anything else happens, come see me."

"Thanks, Doctor, uh," Claire started, searching for his nametag, but there wasn't one on his white lab coat.

"Just call me Doctor."

"Okay. Thanks, Doctor," Claire smiled and stood up. She reached into her pocket for her wallet, but Doctor stopped her.

"First visit is on the house," Doctor said, smiling warmly. "Take care now, Claire."

Claire started to nod, and then winced. "Maybe I shouldn't do that for a while, either," she muttered to herself. "Thanks again, Doctor!"

* * *

Out in the waiting room, Mary and Gray were sitting in two of the chairs. Mary had a worried look on her face, but that expression turned to one of relief when she saw Claire. She stood up quickly, straightening out the wrinkles in her blue skirt. "So everything's alright?"

"Yeah. Just a small cut is all. It'll heal up in a couple of days."

"Well, let's get you home. Come on, Gray," Mary urged.

Gray looked up from his book, clearly irritated that he had to stop reading. Sighing, he stood up and held the door open for Mary and Claire.

Walking down the street to Claire's farm, Gray kept silent while Mary and Claire chatted away animatedly.

"_It's a wonder they know where they're walking_," he thought to himself. Unfortunately, he thought too soon, as Claire and Mary both tripped over a loose cobblestone in the street. Reacting quickly, he grabbed both of their arms before they hit the ground. "You guys need to watch where you're going."

"Sorry," both the girls said in unison, blushing.

* * *

Before Gray and Mary started walking back into town, Mary passed Claire a small piece of paper that had been folded many times.

"Take care of yourself, Claire," Mary said, giving Claire a quick hug.

"Don't go hitting your head on anything," Gray told her, smirking.

"Sure thing," Claire said, waving to the two as they walked out of her farm.

Once inside, Claire eagerly opened the note, being careful not to tear it. "_If you're still wondering… Yes._"


	7. Spring: Day 20 & 21

Sorry it's been **so** long since I last updated. D: I've been kind of lazy lately, and I'm still deciding where to go with this story. In fact, there's another version of this chapter, and I'm thinking about using it in a later chapter. If I had stuck with that other one, this story would've been done at about chapter 10, and I just didn't want to let this story go so soon. Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 20, Monday

"What?! No way!" Ann exclaimed. It was eight in the evening, the main floor of the Inn was crowded, and Claire was sitting across from Ann at the bar trying to get her to shut up.

"Ann! There _are_ other people here!" Claire hissed. Her cheeks were flushed from a hard day's work, and she had just told Ann about the note from Mary. She sighed and took another sip of her drink. "Ann, this just isn't going to work. We have to drop this plan of yours."

Ann looked like she had just been punched in the stomach. A millisecond later, she was wearing an unusually calm and expressionless mask.

"Ann…?" Claire said, a hint of fear entering her voice. When Ann looked like this, it usually meant that something bad was about to happen.

"I need to talk to you," Ann said in a monotone voice, shortly before actually pulling Claire over the short length of the bar and into the back room.

"Ouch!," Claire yelped as she was roughly pushed onto Ann's bed. Ann stood in front of her, crossed her arms, and exploded.

"CLAIRE, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"Ann, I- "

"WE CAN'T JUST ABANDON THE PLAN!"

"No, really-"

"I MEAN, COME ON!"

"ANN!" Claire shouted at a volume that any sane person would find beyond their reach.

Ann immediately quieted and dropped her arms, looking sheepish.

Claire sighed in irritation. "Ann, we, no, _I_, have to drop this. Mary likes Gray and if I stay on this track, I'll probably hurt her in the long run. And you know Mary. She's a sweet girl."

Ann dropped into a chair across from her bed. "Well, what are you going to do, Claire?"

"I honestly have no idea. Maybe I should just go back to avoiding him. It would give Mary a chance with Gray, anyway."

Ann snorted. "Hah. That's a horrible idea. You know that if you do that, he'll think something's up. Why don't you just try to be friends with him?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "I can't be friends with him. Acquaintances maybe, friends no. He hasn't accepted my apology. In fact, he's probably still waiting for that kiss."

"Oh, Claire, Claire, Claire," Ann chuckled, "At this point, that kiss is most definitely irrelevant."

"…Right," Claire sarcastically agreed. Taking a glance down at her watch, she stood up and headed for the door. "It's getting late and I still need to get Cookies into the barn; it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I'll see you later, Ann."

Spring, Day 21, Tuesday

Strangely enough, it was not raining when Claire woke up. She smiled to herself and walked over to the barn to get Cookies. "Come on, Cookies," Claire cooed, trying to get the cow to venture out of the barn and into the pasture. "Look, it's nice and sunny outside!" But all her persuasion was in vain; Cookies would not budge. "Okay, fine. I'll just let you stay in here, you silly cow."

Claire walked back out into the sunlight, savoring the warmth as the weather forecast for tomorrow and the next few days had been rain. But then again, they had been wrong about today, maybe they were wrong about the next few days, too. She snatched her fishing rod quickly from her house and headed out into town and towards the beach.

Unfortunately, it did indeed start raining, no, _pouring,_ as soon as Claire stepped foot onto the beach. "Eek!" Claire squeaked, seeking shelter underneath the nearest cover, which happened to be a beach shack of some sort. The rain was falling so heavily that Claire did not happen to see someone heading towards the same spot she was heading.

And so Claire collided into a brown-haired stranger ten feet before getting to cover. _"Oh, screw it. I'm already soaked anyway,_" she thought. And then realized that the impact had thrown both her and the unknown person onto the sand, and she was lying right on top of him. "_Yeah, it's definitely a him. Otherwise my face would have landed right on her boobs," _she contemplated.

"Uh, can you get off me now?" said a deep voice.

"Oh, right," Claire rolled quickly off the person and stood up, blushing. It was unquestionably a guy. She held out her hand to help the guy up, but he just stood up on his own and tried to wipe the sand off his back, which was pointless really because it just stuck to his wet clothes and refused to be wiped off.

"I'm Claire," she greeted.

The guy just sighed, grabbed her hand, and pulled her over to the cover of the beach shack. "That's better," he said. "I'm Jack."

"You must be new to town. I've never seen you around before."

"Yeah. A boat just dropped me off here about twenty minutes ago. There was supposed to be someone waiting here to show me to the farm."

Claire looked at Jack. He was a few inches taller than her - five foot ten maybe - had messy auburn hair and hazel eyes, and was carrying nothing more than a baseball cap in his hand and a backpack. Jack didn't look all that bad, actually. He was kind of cute. "Wait… a farm?" As far as Claire could tell, there was only one farm in Mineral Town, and she owned it.

"That's right. There was an ad in the newspaper asking for a farmhand" Jack answered, studying Claire's expression, which seemed to change from surprise to confusion to rage all at the same time.

"No way," Claire muttered darkly. "You. You're coming with me," she ordered, pointing at Jack and then grabbing his wrist and dragging him to Mayor Thomas' house.

"Oh! Claire, is that you? What are you doing out on a day like today?" the Mayor asked, his eyebrows raised.

Claire just stared at him like he was the densest person alive. Well, he probably was. She nodded in the direction of Jack, "Who said I needed a farmhand?"

"Oh, um, you see… I think you've been needing some help on your farm lately, Claire. It looks like your shipments have been dwindling in the past few days, and I assumed that handling the farm was too big of a job for just one person… So I put an ad in the paper for a farmhand; basically just an apprentice." The Mayor tugged at his ridiculous hat, trying to look more comfortable than he actually felt.

"YOU WHAT?! WHY?!" Claire yelled, thinking how unbelievable that the mayor would do something like this. And how creepy it was that he was keeping tabs on her shipments – it was no concern of his. She took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself down. "Mayor, did you even think this through? Where is Jack going to stay?"

"Well, on your farm, of course," Mayor Thomas replied, wondering why the girl would ask such an obvious question.

Claire sighed, rubbing her temples, and at the same time trying to resist the urge to strangle the chubby little man. "Thomas, can't Jack just stay at the inn? I'm afraid my home might not be able to house both of us."

The Mayor's eyebrows furrowed. All the while, Jack just stood next to Claire, confused as hell. "Claire, that won't be possible for at least a few days. You see, Gourmet, the judge of the Cooking Festival, is in town, occupying the only free room. However, Jack can use that room when Gourmet leaves, which should be around the beginning of Summer. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but you'll be able to get more work done on the farm, which will be good. Now if you excuse me, I must go meet with Harris for lunch." And with that, the Mayor left Claire and Jack standing in the downpour.

"Claire?" Jack asked hesitantly.

Looking up at Jack through her wet hair, Claire looked like she was going to kill somebody. "What?" she asked in a menacingly low tone.

Jack stayed silent, hoping he wouldn't provoke the poor young farmer. His eyes darted around, avoiding her death glare.

"…Let's go," Claire barked after an awkwardly long silence. She stalked off towards her farm and Jack reluctantly followed.

"Look, I'm sorry if this has caused you trouble, Claire," Jack started to say as they walked down the street.

"Save it," Claire snapped. "It's not your fault… most of it, anyway."

"Okay, look," Jack snapped back, "If this is such a big deal, I can just leave."

Claire stopped, turning to look at Jack, her mouth drawn into a grim line. "Sorry, it's just… this was really unexpected, and… you don't have to leave. We'll figure this out." She managed to give him a half-hearted smile. "Come on; let's get out of this weather."

* * *

Gray didn't show up in this chapter! :O And I had a fantastic time making fun of the mayor. Heh.  
Hope this chapter was enjoyable


	8. Spring: Day 22

Well, I promised myself I'd post the next chapter by my birthday, so I'm barely cutting it. :P I've had this sitting around for a bit, but I had some horrible 'writer's block' that was preventing me from writing an ending. So here it is! Cheers.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 22, Wednesday

_Ouch. Well, this is uncomfortable_, thought Claire as she tossed and turned on the floor of her house. She and Jack had come to the agreement that they would take turns sleeping in the small bed that occupied the house on her farm. Today, it was Claire's turn to sleep on the floor in a thin sleeping bag. But tonight, oh yes, she would be able to sleep in that comfortable, amazing bed. It was strange how one little experience could change a person's view on something – before, Claire thought that the bed was absolutely horrid, what with its broken springs and odd, I-don't-even-want-to-know-where-those-came-from stains. Now it looked like heaven.

She glanced at the clock – 4:00am. "Ugh, today is going to be awful. I've barely gotten a wink of sleep since midnight." She quietly stood up and walked to the bathroom. _Thank god this house came with a bathroom already in it. I don't think I could handle walking to the inn just to answer nature's calling_. Claire stepped out of the bathroom, shaking her hands to get rid of any excess water that had decided to stay after she finished washing her hands. Silently slipping back into the worn sleeping bag, Claire ended up staying awake until six, when her alarm went off.

"Phew. Okay, rise and shine, mister," Claire said, dumping a brush and pail onto Jack after she finished getting dressed. "Today, you're going to learn how to take care of cows."

All she received in reply was a gurgle of incoherent sentences from Jack. He cracked an eye open. "Why in the world do you wake up so early?"

Claire shrugged. "It's just what I do. Besides, the early bird gets the worm, you know," she answered, wagging a finger at him. "Now get up."

"Make me," Jack challenged, rolling over and stuffing his head underneath the pillow.

"GET. UP," Claire huffed, hands gripped firmly around one of Jack's ankles. So far, she wasn't having much luck in pulling Jack off of her bed. But with one final yank, he finally went toppling onto the floor. "Hah. Now get your work clothes on, we have a lot of stuff to do today."

Jack grumbled and pushed himself up off the floor. "You're insane." He pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt with Claire turned away from him wondering why he wouldn't just use the freaking bathroom. "Okay, let's go, Miss Famer Girl," Jack said, grabbing Claire's arm and pushing her through the door.

"Jack, just grab them," Claire insisted.

"But, they're just so strange looking; all wrinkled and pink," Jack protested, trying not to gag.

"Oh for god's sake, Jack," Claire shouted. "Just grab the udders!"

Turning his face away and hoping his hands were aiming for the right place, Jack reached forward to grab Cookies' udders. Something latched; hopefully his hands with the udders.

"See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Claire pointed out. "Now just squeeze slightly so the milk comes out – and try to get most of it in the bucket."

"Bleh," Jack said when the bucket had been filled to the brim.

"Good, good," Claire said smiling. "And tomorrow, you'll learn to use this," she added, pulling the milker out of her rucksack.

"What's that ugly contraption?" Jack asked, scrutinizing the strange object in Claire's hands.

"Why, it's a milker, of course," Claire informed him brightly, backing away and bracing for his temper's spontaneous combustion.

"Why you…" Jack muttered darkly, slowly standing up. "Come over here and tell that to my face."

"Eep!" Claire squeaked and started sprinting out of the barn and into her field where it was raining – just like the forecast had predicted. She turned around to stick out her tongue at Jack (she could be very immature sometimes) and discovered that Jack was running at her full speed. And was about to tackle her. "AAAACK!" she yelled as his arms wrapped around her waist and they both fell into the wet, muddy grass.

"You little witch," Jack playfully accused Claire, a grin playing at his lips. He dramatically lifted his arms and rolled up his sleeves all the while grinning with an evil glint in his eyes and exercising his fingers.

"You wouldn't dare," Claire said, her eyes widening.

"That depends. Are your sides ticklish?"

"NO," Claire said, obviously in denial.

"Oh." For a moment, Jack dropped his arms and started to stand up. "Well in that case… I **would** dare," he finished, and started tickling Claire's sides like there was no tomorrow.

"HAHA – STOP – HAH – THAT – HAHAHAH!" Claire demanded, squirming underneath Jack.

Grinning from his momentary control over the farmer, Jack proposed an idea. "I'll stop if," he paused for dramatic effect, "you promise that I will never have to milk a cow with my hands again."

"HAHA – FINE – HAHAHAH – NOW STOP!" Claire quickly agreed. She would agree to anything to get Jack to stop tickling her.

"Okay, fine." Jack stood up and moved to the side so Claire could get up.

"That was mean," Claire panted, trying to get her breath back.

"An eye for an eye," Jack replied, shrugging.

Claire tried to level Jack with a stare, but that failed miserably because Jack just burst out laughing.

"What?" Claire crossed her arms and tried to maintain an angry expression.

"It's just, you're covered in mud, soaked, and you absolutely cannot pull off a death glare looking like that," Jack said, still laughing.

Claire tried not to laugh but she was unsuccessful in that, too; Jack's laugh was just too contagious. She burst into another round of giggles when Jack's stomach rumbled loudly. "Hungry?"

"Now what would make you think that?" Jack sarcastically remarked, rolling his eyes.

Claire grinned. "Come on, we should probably go get some lunch."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Looking like this?" He gestured to both his and her clothes, soaked and covered in dirt.

"Well, yeah. I'm not going to change; my clothes will just get wet again. With that, she started to walk out of the farm, leaving Jack standing in the field for a minute, stunned. Girls in the city definitely weren't like Claire.

* * *

"Claire? What _happened_ to you?" Ann asked, an expression of disbelief covering her face.

"I was showing Jack how to milk a cow and it went horribly awry," Claire smiled, sitting down at the bar and gesturing for Jack to sit next to her.

"Jack?"

"Oh! That's right, you haven't met him yet," Claire said, smacking her forehead. "Ann, this is Jack. He moved into town when Thomas put an ad in the paper for a farmhand. So he's staying on the farm until Gourmet leaves."

"Pleasure meeting you," Jack greeted, holding out his hand.

"Same to you," Ann replied, shaking his hand. "So, what would you two like?"

"Just some pizza for me. What about you, Jack?"

"Uh, do you guys make sandwiches?"

"Sure do. It'll be out in a minute," Ann grinned, swiftly disappearing into the kitchen.

"So," Claire started, not quite sure how to finish the sentence.

"So…"

"How long are you planning on staying in town?"

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. I was hoping I could settle down here and start a business, maybe a farm or something of the sort."

"That's cool," Claire said. "I hope you'll like it here in Mineral Town. It's not that big and there isn't a lot to do – it's certainly not like the city – but the people are very nice and friendly."

"Yeah, it seems like it," Jack smiled.

Ann came out with their food in a few minutes. "Here ya go, Claire, Jack," she said, setting down the plates. "Hi, Gray," she greeted the quiet blacksmith who had just walked in the door.

Gray nodded in response, walking up to the bar and taking a seat next to Claire.

"Hello, Gray. How has your day been?" Claire asked, turning to look at him for a second.

"Fine. Yours?"

"…Well, interesting, I suppose."

Jack peered around Claire at Gray, wondering who she was talking to. He coughed lightly, nudging Claire with his elbow.

"Oh! Gray, this is Jack," Claire said, introducing the two. "He's going to be helping out on my farm for a while," she turned to Jack, "Jack, this is Gray. He works at the blacksmith shop not to far away from the farm."

"Nice to meet you," Jack acknowledged, extending his hand.

"Hn," Gray responded, returning the handshake.

In the few minutes that followed, an uncomfortable silence engulfed the main floor of the inn. The only audible noise was Claire self-consciously chewing her food. "Ahem, well… Jack, we should probably get back to the farm," Claire said nervously. "Nice seeing you Gray," she nodded, leaving some money on the bar.

"Shouldn't I pay for my own food, Claire?" Jack asked, starting to pull out a wallet.

"No, it's fine. We really should be going anyway," she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him out of the inn before he put money on the bar.

"What was that all about?" Jack questioned, glancing over at Claire.

"What was what all about?" Claire asked, playing dumb.

"Back there at the inn. Do you have a problem with Gray?"

"No. It's just that we have a lot of work to do, and I don't want to fall behind," Claire explained, hoping that the subject would change soon.

"Hmph. Right," Jack said, but didn't push the subject any further. "So what do we do now?

"Well," Claire drew out the word, thinking for a moment. "I need to take a look at the crops. They might be ready to harvest – you could help me with that," Claire suggested. "And maybe after that we can go look for some herbs and flowers near Mother's Hill."

"Sure," Jack said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Later that afternoon, Jack and Claire were out at the base of Mother's Hill foraging for herbs and flowers. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the damp wilderness.

"Is this one?" Jack asked, holding up a jumble of green leaves for Claire to take a look at.

"No, that's a weed," Claire answered, chuckling.

"It's _weed_?!" Jack exclaimed, inspecting his findings. "I had no idea marijuana grew around here!"

"No, it's _a_ weed," Claire said, laughing when she remembered the bewildered look on Jack's face. "Look," she said, picking up a blue-colored plant, "these are herbs. That," she pointed to Jack's group of leaves and other unknown foliage, "is a weed."

"Oh." Jack replied, feeling like an idiot. He threw the plant over his shoulder and tried to glare at the still-laughing farmer so she would stop.

"What?" Claire asked in-between giggles. She stopped for a moment to yawn and stretch her arms.

"Maybe we should go back," Jack suggested, observing Claire. "You look like you could use some sleep."

"…I guess so," Claire agreed, standing up. She swayed slightly; exhaustion was finally starting to set in after the long day.

Jack stood up swiftly and grabbed her elbow before she had the chance to fall over. "Don't go falling off the mountain now," he teased her.

"Yeah, yeah." Claire wormed her arm out of Jack's grasp and started down the trail.

Once at the house, Claire gladly collapsed on the bed fully-clothed, and fell asleep in a matter of seconds. Jack just shook his head, chuckling, and slipped into the sleeping bag on the floor.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! Also, I'd like to thank all my reviewers for being amazing and fabulous. It's always nice to come home and find reviews waiting for me. :)


	9. Spring: Day 23

Okay, okay. I know it's been almost two months. D: Sorry about that - but I should have the next chapter up by next week at the latest. If I don't have it up by then, may I be struck by lightning. Anyway, this is one of the shorter chapters, but I hope everyone likes it. And again, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! :D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Spring, Day 23, Thursday  
Cooking Festival

_Patter, patter. Clank. Slam. Bump. Crash._

_What the hell?_ Opening an eye, Jack peered over to see Claire making a mess in the newly installed kitchen. Wisps of hair stuck to her face, she was bending over a bowl of batter. Or something. She glanced up momentarily and saw Jack staring at her.

"Good morning, Jack," Claire greeted cheerily. "Kind of."

"Kind of? What time is it?" Jack stretched his arms above his head and yawned.

"About eleven or so," she replied, picking up a whisk to beat the batter with. "You sleep like a rock."

"Hmm. Thanks," Jack said sarcastically, scrutinizing whatever Claire was making. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Making a cake. Today's the Cooking Festival, you know," Claire stopped beating the batter to look at Jack, who had a confused expression on his face. "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

"No idea whatsoever," Jack shook his head and stood up. Walking over to the kitchen, he bent over the bowl of batter, dipped a finger in it, and tasted it.

"Hey!" Claire grabbed a wooden spoon and whacked Jack on the head with the end of it. "No sticking fingers in my uncooked food!"

"It needs more sugar. Or chocolate, maybe." Jack thought, unfazed by the hit to his head.

Claire considered this observation for a moment. "You think so?" She quickly rummaged through the pantry and pulled out a bar of chocolate. "I think this should work. Can you melt it for me? I need to go feed Cookies and take Bullet out." Bullet, who had been sleeping at the foot of the bed raised his head and trotted over towards the kitchen, having heard his name.

"Sure thing," Jack said, washing his hands and taking out a pot to melt the chocolate in.

"The recipe is over there, if you need it," Claire pointed to a piece of paper on the counter before shooing Bullet out the door in front of her.

* * *

"Good!" a big, fat guy in a purple suit rumbled. The Cooking Festival had just started moments ago, and the Gourmet was starting to taste the different dessert dishes.

Claire was standing next to Jack a little ways off, watching Manna step up to the tasting table as Gourmet sampled her pudding as she explained to Jack what the Cooking Festival was.

"Basically, the Gourmet," Claire motioned towards the large judge tasting the food, "decides a theme for the contest in the morning, around ten or so. Then, everyone who wants to participate does back to their house to create a dish in that category that they will want Gourmet to judge. By noon or so, everyone comes back to Rose Square with their dishes, and the judge will taste each dish and decide the winner. Got it?"

"Yup," Jack replied, observing the Gourmet. "So this is the guy staying in the extra room at the Inn?" he whispered to Claire.

"Mhmm," Claire whispered back.

"Well, it's no wonder I can't stay at the Inn. He probably takes up the whole room," Jack said, grinning at Claire.

"You know, I bet he snores really loud, too," she giggled, watching the purple-clad judge shovel Ann's ice cream into his mouth.

"I wonder if he has trouble fitting through the door to his room…" Jack wondered, a strange expression making his way onto his face.

"What?" Claire asked, trying to stifle another round of giggles.

"You probably don't want to know," he said, making another weird face.

"Yes, I do," Claire pestered, nudging Jack's shoulder.

"Do you think he has a wife? 'Cause if he does, I feel sorry for her."

"What if he accidentally smothered her in his sleep? Bleh," Claire shuddered, thinking of Gourmet walking into his bedroom in a pair of boxers. "Ew," she scrunched up her face into a disgusted expression. "All… that… flab," she muttered. Jack and Claire both twitched.

"Next is Claire!" the mayor announced.

Jack nudged Claire towards the judging table. "Watch out for his mouth. He might eat you, too," he whispered into her ear, but Claire was too nervous to laugh.

She stood before the Gourmet, who was putting a small bite of her chocolate cake into his mouth. "Good," the Gourmet concluded. "It could use a little more chocolate, but it is a good cake overall."

"Thanks," Claire mumbled and shuffled back over to where Jack was standing.

"How was it?" Jack asked, noticing Claire's solemn disposition.

"Well, he didn't eat me," Claire joked, her expression turning from stoic to cheery.

The last contestant of the festival was Karen. Her dish seemed to be some sort of cookie gone awry.

"I keep trying to teach her how to cook, but she never listens," Claire overheard Sasha, Karen's mother, saying to Manna. "She's so stubborn sometimes."

Ann skipped over to Jack and Claire, a smile plastered on her face. "This should be interesting," Ann muttered to Claire, smiling deviously.

"Why?" Claire wondered. Jack peered around Claire at Ann, listening intently.

"Karen always enters the Cooking Festival, but the Gourmet keeps telling her that her dishes aren't any good. I don't see why she keeps insisting on entering, but I suppose that's just a part of her charm," Ann speculated.

"At least she tries," Claire admired.

"Bad," Gourmet announced, and Claire imagined him turning around to wipe out his mouth.

Karen just turned around and walked proudly back to she was standing. She didn't even seem upset about the evaluation.

The contestants patiently waited as Gourmet discussed the dishes with the mayor.

"Attention!" the mayor shouted. "After much thought and discussion, the Gourmet has chosen the winner. The winner is… Ann!"

"Go, Ann!" Claire cheered, patting her friend on the back.

Ann smiled and walked up to the table where she shook hands with both the mayor and Gourmet.

Claire looked up as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe next year," Jack smiled at Claire.

"Yeah, maybe next year," Claire smiled back.

She looked around Rose Square where the festival had been held. Ann was talking to her dad, Doug. Manna was gossiping rapidly with Sasha. Popuri, Rick, and their mother, Lillia were laughing at something Karen had said.

"Let's go home," Claire said to Jack. They walked off towards her farm, sharing jokes and laughing.

What Claire hadn't seen was Gray standing off to the side, looking at Jack through narrowed eyes.


	10. Summer: Day 1

Aha! I put it up! :D Oh, and to all who celebrate it, Happy 4th of July! So far, this is the longest chapter (though only by a couple hundred words). Anyway, I hope everyone likes this one. I kind of hit a bump towards the middle, but then it picks back up by the end. :) Also, there's some GrayxClaire in here. Cheers

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

* * *

Spring, Day 29, Wednesday

"You know, things have been really weird between me and Gray lately," Claire confided to Ann over a breakfast of pancakes.

"Really? How so?" Ann's eyes brightened, hoping for something juicy.

"I don't know how to explain it," Claire started. "It feels like there's this weird tension between us. Not that that's any different than what it was like before, but this time it just feels more awkward. If that makes sense," Claire stopped before she had the chance to make even herself confused.

"Hmm. I guess I kind of understand what you're talking about," Ann said, sounding a bit unsure.

"Well, not only that, but it seems like he won't even make eye contact with me anymore," Claire added, her face taking on a melancholy appearance. "I went in to get one of my tools upgraded the other day and the only time he said anything to me was when I said hello and goodbye."

"Maybe his grandfather has been giving him a hard time," Ann suggested, hoping to cheer Claire up.

"Yeah, maybe," Claire gave a feeble smile. _Why am I so upset about this? I mean, this is Gray we're talking about._

"So, where's Jack?" Ann asked, hoping to turn to a lighter subject.

"Last I checked he was taking Cookies out of the barn. I think he said something about getting some chickens, too," Claire answered, a sad note still present in her voice.

"Man, you have that guy working hard," Ann joked, standing up and pushing in the chair. "Well, I have to get to work, but you can stay and think for a while if you want." She walked over to Claire and patted her shoulder affectionately. "I wouldn't worry about Gray. It's just who he is." With that, Ann disappeared up the stairs, duster in hand, leaving Claire to sit and think for a while.

_Did I do something wrong?_ Claire thought, staring at what was left of her pancakes. She sighed and rested her face in her hands. _Maybe he's still mad about that kiss? Hmm. No, that couldn't be it. Could it?_

"Something wrong?" a husky voice asked from behind Claire.

Startled, Claire turned around and almost did a double-take. There was Gray, standing behind the bar getting something to drink. The same Gray, who days before, wouldn't even make eye-contact with her, and now he was talking to her.

"Y-yeah. Sort of," Claire stammered after a pause, and turned back to face her pancakes only to see that Gray was taking the seat opposite her.

"What is it?" Gray inquired, taking a gulp of his orange juice. Well, this was strange indeed. Gray normally never showed interest in the well-being of anyone, and certainly didn't ask people why they were upset.

"Um, well, it has something to do with… you," by the time Claire had finished the sentence, her voice had diminished to a whisper. She stood up abruptly. "Imustbegoingnowbye," she muttered rapidly and turned to walk out of the inn. Claire was almost at the door when Gray finally said something.

"Is this about that kiss I asked for?" The brim of Gray's cap shadowed his face, so Claire couldn't really see his expression when she glanced over at him, her hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah," Claire reluctantly whispered, loud enough for Gray to hear, and walked out the door.

* * *

"Argh!" Claire let out an exasperated yell and slumped to the ground underneath one of the trees on her farm.

"Claire?" Jack jogged over to where Claire was sitting and looked down at her with a concerned expression. "Are you okay?"

"I can't get Bullet to fetch the Frisbee," she explained, irritated. "Every time I throw it, he just runs after it and stops when it hits the ground. And the Beach Festival is tomorrow, and I need to get him to catch the Frisbee, and if he doesn't, then I won't win, and-"

"Claire, Claire stop," Jack said gently, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze.

In her short rant, Claire hadn't realized she'd come close to tears. She took in a few shaky breaths and stood up.

"Don't worry about it. I'll get Bullet to catch that Frisbee by tomorrow, but you need some rest," Jack reassured her.

"Thanks, Jack," Claire gave Jack a brief hug before walking slowly to the house. _Everything just seems to be catching up with me. Gray, the kiss, even Jack. _She shook her head, trying to dispel thoughts that would just make her stress out again.

* * *

Summer, Day 1, Thursday  
Beach Festival

Claire wiped her hands on a dish towel as a couple quick knocks were heard at the door. _I wonder who it could be… it's only 6:30 in the morning_. When she opened a door, she was met with a complete stranger. He wore a purple bandana over his head, and some brown hair was peeking out from under it.

"Uh, hi," Claire greeted, smiling at the unknown man.

"Hey," he said. "I'm Kai. I run the Snack Shack on the beach during the summer." Kai shook Claire's hand with a firm grasp. "You must be Claire."

"Yup," Claire confirmed. "I run this farm, if you don't already know."

"Hm," Kai leaned against the doorframe, probably attempting to look sexy. "If you don't mind me asking, what's a girl like you doing on a farm like this?" He did some sort of thing that Claire interpreted as a cross between a wink and an eyebrow-wiggle.

She almost rolled her eyes at him, but before she had the chance, Jack popped up behind her. "Who's at the door?" That was probably a stupid question to ask, considering he could've just asked Kai, who was standing right there, but whatever.

"This is Kai," Claire introduced. "He runs a Snack Shack at the beach."

"Oh, well nice to meet you," Jack said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Jack."

Kai, however, just looked shocked. "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, too, Jack."

"Well, I'm gonna go make sure Cookies gets fed, and then we can practice with Bullet," Jack said to Claire and slipped between her and Kai, walking out towards the field.

"Oh, I, uh, sorry," Kai said, embarrassed.

"For what?" Claire questioned, tilting her head. "Attempting to hit on me?" she teased with a mocking smile on her face.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Kai looked down at his shoes and quickly looked back up with a slight grin on his tan face, hoping to not upset Claire.

Claire just laughed. "Jack? Oh, he's not my boyfriend." Claire grinned at Kai, who now just looked thoroughly confused. "He's just helping me out on the farm."

"Oh," was Kai's witty response. "Anyway," he started, regaining his composure, "There's a Beach Festival starting around noon or so. You guys should come; there's going to be some free food, a Frisbee contest, and a lot of other stuff going on."

"We'll be there," Claire assured him. "I guess I'll see you there, Kai."

"Yup. Nice meeting you," he replied, and walked casually out of the farm.

"So," Claire started, walking over to Jack, who was taking Cookies out the barn. "Did you get Bullet to learn how to catch that Frisbee?"

"Uh-huh," he said, pushing Cookies from behind, though she wasn't moving anywhere. "If you go get the Frisbee, I'll show you."

"First, I think you're going to need this if you want Cookies to get out into the field," Claire said, holding a bell out to Jack. "Just go stand in the field and ring it. She should walk towards the sound of the bell." As soon as she handed the bell to Jack, Claire turned and started walking back towards the house to get the Frisbee.

"Whoa," Claire murmured in awe. Bullet had just caught the Frisbee for Jack at about twenty yards, and was now walking happily towards them with a red disc in his mouth.

"Told you I'd get him to catch that Frisbee," Jack said with a grin.

"In all honesty, I didn't actually think you'd get him to catch the thing. At least, not that far away, at any rate," Claire said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh come on now," Jack said, throwing an arm over her shoulders. "You should have more faith in me than that."

"Yeah, probably" Claire agreed. They were shooed off to the side as May and her dog, Hannah, stepped up to the line.

Claire took a seat underneath one of the many beach umbrellas scattered along the sand. She watched as May threw the Frisbee a short way, about a few yards. Certainly not as far as Jack had thrown it. "You know, I think you have an unfair advantage," Claire said, looking at Jack, who was still standing.

"I do? Why?" Jack looked at Claire, and then back at May, trying to figure it out.

"Well for one thing, May's a little girl. You on the other hand… Unless you have some big secret, I'm pretty sure you're not a little girl."

"Ha ha, very funny. I can assure you, I'm a guy."

"I would hope so," Claire smirked, watching Jack with an amused expression.

"Yeah, yeah," Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get some food. Want some?"

"No, I'm fine. But thanks, though." Claire scanned through the crowd of people at the beach, looking for her red-headed friend. "Hmmm," she tapped her chin, wondering where Ann would be.

"Looking for someone?" a creepy voice asked from behind her.

"Ack!" Claire flinched and turned her head. Of course, she came face to face with Ann. "You know, you'd be a really good ninja."

"Really?" Ann's eyes brightened as she took a seat next to Claire. "I've always wanted to be one. Then I could clean at the speed of light!"

Claire rolled her eyes. "I said 'ninja', Ann, not 'superhero'."

"Well, then I could clean, uh," Ann paused, looking for a word. "Stealthily!"

Claire sighed. "Okay then."

"Oh, by the way, I think your farmer-boy has taken a liking to our librarian," Ann revealed, looking over towards where Jack was.

"What? No way," Claire doubted, her eyes widening in disbelief. She followed Ann's gaze to find Jack engaging Mary some overly-friendly chatting, also known as flirting. "Huh. Well that's new."

"I'll say." Ann looked around quickly, and suddenly jumped up. "Blacksmith at 2 o'clock. And he looks like he wants to talk to you. I'll be back." Ann bounded out of sight in a matter of seconds.

"Wait!" Claire cried, but Ann was already gone. "Crap. Oh man, oh man, this is going to be really awkward," she panicked, remembering the 'talk' with Gray she had had the previous day. "Uh, hi," Claire said nervously as Gray approached. She smoothed out her clothes in an anxious habit.

"Hi," Gray responded. He gestured to the empty space next to Claire. "Can I sit here?"

"No," said out of habit. "I mean, yes," she corrected after seeing the perplexed look on Gray's face. "But, why? Just curious."

"I think we should talk," Gray said, taking a seat on the towel next to Claire. "About our 'situation'. Whatever that is."

"Uh, I think I hear Ann calling me," Claire hinted, standing quickly. She turned to walk off when she was pulled back onto the towel.

"Claire," Gray said sounding slightly irritated. "Seriously. You can't just run away from stuff you don't want to face."

Claire huffed. "Well, can you at least let go of my wrist?" She looked pointedly at his hand, which was still wrapped firmly around her small wrist.

His wrist swiftly drew away, and Gray cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah…"

"So what did you want to talk about?" Claire asked, hoping this conversation would be over soon.

"Actually, there's more than one thing. But first, what you said to me at the inn yesterday. Is it really that big of a problem, what I said to you? About the kiss?" Gray glanced over at Claire, who seemed really uneasy.

"Well, for one thing, I have no idea whether or not you seriously meant it. I can't tell if you're still 'mad' at me, even though you don't act like it. And I feel really awkward around you when I remember the whole incident," Claire admitted, staring off towards the ocean.

"Claire, I'm not mad at you," Gray chuckled. "It's almost been a whole season since I said that to you." He shook his head, smiling. "Moving on, do you know that Jack has been hitting on Mary?"

Claire smiled. "Yeah, I've heard that. Why?"

"Just making sure you know," Gray said.

Claire looked over at Gray. "Do you like her or something?"

"No. We're just friends, and I don't want her to get hurt," he said, looking off to the side.

Seeing as Gray's facial expression didn't waver, Claire wasn't sure whether or not he was really lying. "Even though you're probably lying... Mary's a strong girl. She can handle herself," she assured him.

"Yeah, I know."

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Claire questioned.

"Um, yeah. You know that there's a Firework's Festival later this season, right?" he asked, lowering the rim of his cap.

"I think Ann mentioned it at some point," Claire thought for a moment. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Uh, well, if you aren't going with anyone, do you think maybe… we could go together?" At this point, Claire could see that Gray's whole face was red, even as he tried unsuccessfully to shield it with his hat.

"You're asking me because Mary and Jack are probably going together." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Claire didn't sound mad or hurt, which surprised Gray. A lot.

"No. I'm asking you because I want us to go together."

"Are you sure about that?" Claire asked, doubtful.

Gray sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Claire."

Claire considered this for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I'll go with you."

"Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later," Gray stood up and started to walk away. "Oh yeah," he called over his shoulder, "whether or not I was serious about that kiss… I'll let you figure that out." Gray smirked at Claire before disappearing into the small crowd.

Claire's jaw dropped. "Dammit."


	11. Summer: Day 8

Hey, guys! It's been a pretty hectic few weeks for me, but I got an update in. :) I think this chapter will please quite a few people, so enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

* * *

Summer, Day 8, Thursday

"Hi, Claire!" Ann smiled at the girl who had just walked into the inn. Her smile faded as she noticed Claire wasn't going to stop and talk to her. "Where are you going?"

Instead of answering the question directly, Claire mumbled two words: "the plan," and walked determinedly up the stairs.

Ann's eyes widened and a mischievous grin spread across her face as she comprehended what the farmer had just said. She went back to polishing the bar while whistling a tune.

--

"GRAY!" Claire pounded on the door of one of the upper rooms of the inn. Disregarding the fact that Kai and Cliff could also be in the room sleeping, she tried again. "GRAY, OPEN UP!"

"What the hell is going on over there?" Jack, who had moved out of Claire's farm and into the other upper room of the inn a few days ago, peeked out into the hall groggily. He saw Claire and sighed. Of course. No other woman in this town was crazy enough to go pounding on doors at _freaking 6:30_ in the morning. The door was promptly closed, and the squeak of Jack's mattress was heard as he flopped back onto it.

Claire stared at the door as if she had laser eyes and could burn a hole through it. "That's it!" Tired of waiting around, she grabbed the knob and forced herself into the room… only to hear a dull thud as the door collided with something. Or someone.

"Ack! Oh my god, Kai, I'm so sorry!" Claire apologized profusely, having slammed the door into the poor guy's face.

"S'okay," Kai grumbled. He looked like he had just gotten up, though he didn't sound sleepy – an obvious consequence of the blow to his head.

"Are you okay? Should I take you to the clinic?" Claire asked, hovering around Kai. Cliff had woken up after hearing Kai's yell of agony, and was now blearily watching as Kai stuffed tissues under his nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"No. S'just a bloody nose," Kai replied, however, since he couldn't very well breathe through his nose, his 's's' came out sounding like 'th's'.

"If you're sure," Claire said after a pause, still watching Kai with concerned eyes.

"Why are you here this early in the morning?" Kai managed to ask around his mound of tissues.

"Um, I was looking for Gray," Claire admitted sheepishly, bowing her head. "I guess it wouldn't have hurt to come later over later in the day."

"Hm, ya think?" Kai retorted. "He went on a walk. Don't know where."

Claire took this as her cue to leave. "Thanks, Kai. And sorry. About the nose. Really." With that, she shuffled out of the room in search of the blacksmith's apprentice.

"Let's see. If I were Gray, where would I go?" Claire was standing outside of the inn, pondering where Gray could've possibly gone. "It's his day off, so… he must be at the library!" Claire realized with a grin.

She set off at a quick pace towards the library until she remembered something else. "Wait…" Claire checked her watch, frowning when it told her that it was only seven o'clock. The library didn't open until ten. Hmm. Well, this was a predicament.

--

"JACK!" Claire pummeled his door, getting a sense of déjà vu while she did it.

"WHAT?!" Jack yelled from inside his room. His voice was kind of quiet, so he must have had his face buried into his pillow.

"I'm coming in, so you'd better be decent," she informed him, lowering her voice to a normal volume. Opening the door, she found that Jack obviously hadn't moved, as his head was still in his pillow and he didn't look up as she came in.

"What do you want?" he asked in a muffled tone.

"Are you interested in Mary?"

"Well, you sure don't beat around the bush," Jack said, turning over, though the question had definitely caught his attention.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Jack, really."

"Well, what if I am?"

"I'm seriously considering pushing you off that bed," Claire said, crossing her arms.

"Why?"

"Because you can't answer a simple question."

"Fine. Yes, I like Mary. Happy now?" Jack turned back over so he was facing Claire and glared at her.

"Unquestionably," Claire hissed and stormed out of the room. "Phase one complete," she said gleefully to herself once out of earshot of Jack.

--

Mary looked up from a stack of papers as the bell over the library door jingled. "Oh! Good morning, Claire." She smiled warmly at the farmer.

"Morning, Mary." Claire looked around the library for a few seconds. "Have you seen Gray today?"

The librarian's eyebrows furrowed as she thought for a moment. "Actually, now that you mention it, I don't think he's been by today."

"Hm," Claire tapped her finger against her lips. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something." Claire glanced at the librarian before continuing. "Jack likes you, you know."

"That's not a question," Mary replied, the hint of a smile on her lips. "But I figured he did when he talked to me at the Beach Festival."

"Really? What did he say?" Claire asked eagerly, forgetting that she had planned to ask something else. This was _much_ more interesting.

"Oh, something about angels and a fall from heaven," Mary shrugged and peeked over to find that Claire's once interested expression had turned to that of pure horror.

"He said _what_?!"

Mary chuckled. "Actually, it was kind of cute. Jack was so nervous that he messed up completely."

Claire shook her head, embarrassed. "I can't believe he honestly said something like that."

"Well, at least he talked to me," Mary said with a frown. She let out a frustrated sigh. "I mean, Gray comes in here every single day and merely says "Hi, Mary," or "Bye, Mary." That's all!"

"Oh," was all Claire could come up with, but Mary wasn't quite done.

"I'm starting to think that maybe Gray is just a lost cause. At least Jack knows how to smile," she finished.

"I'm sorry, Mary," Claire tried to comfort the upset librarian.

"Thanks, Claire."

"Gray asked me to the Fireworks Festival," Claire said quietly, almost reluctantly.

"Hm." Mary let Claire know that she had heard, but didn't say anymore. She looked kind of mad, in fact.

Claire turned to leave and paused at the door. "You know, I think Jack genuinely likes you. Later, Mary," she said with a half-hearted smile.

What Claire said left Mary pondering at her desk with a small smile on her face.

--

Claire meandered down the pathway behind her farm, deep in thought. She didn't even notice that she had made her way to the Goddess Pond until she almost fell in.

"Ack!" Claire yelped as the tip of her shoe slipped into the water. She immediately jumped back and her heel caught on a tree root. Landing on the ground with an "Oomph, she stared at the pond, not quite sure what just happened. Claire squatted on the balls of her feet next to the edge of the pond and let the tip of her finger trail through the clear water.

"Claire?"

Startled, Claire lost her balance and fell face first into the Goddess Pond. After a few seconds, she came up sputtering and searched confusedly for the reason she had fallen into the water. Her eyes landed on Gray, who was now holding a hand out to her. Great. Just _great_.

She accepted Gray's help with a grimace and was soon standing in front of him with soaking wet clothes sticking to her frame. Oh joy. They just stared at each other for a few moments before Gray decided to break the awkward silence.

"Kai said you were looking for me," he stated, trying to keep his eyes on Claire's face instead of her wet clothes. Stupid hormones. "So did Cliff, Jack, and Mary," he added.

"Oh. Yeah, about that," Claire said, looking off to the side. A faint blush crept up on her cheeks, much to Gray's amusement. _Okay, come on Claire, you can do this._

Before Claire even knew what she was doing, she closed the gap between herself and the blacksmith and kissed him. _The plan, the plan, the pla- oh crap._ Somewhere between Claire's mental screaming and the end, Gray had actually wrapped his arms around her waist and was _kissing her back_. Really kissing her back. Like, this could seriously become R-rated in a matter of seconds.

With the tiny bit of will she had left, Claire managed to push herself away from Gray. They both took in ragged breaths as they grasped what had just happened.

"I, uh, I have to-" Claire took a few steps back, contemplating what to say.

"Claire, wait," Gray took a step towards the disoriented girl.

"I have to go brush my cow!" she blurted out suddenly before sprinting away, leaving behind a rather confused Gray.

* * *

**A/N:** So there it is! Finally some Gray/Claire stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to write some fluff soon. Heh. Also, I want to add that my oneshot/drabble thing isn't associated with this story, just something I wrote down. :)


	12. Summer: Day 12

**A/N**: I am so, so sorry for taking so long on this story. You have all rights to throw tomatoes at me and place me in a cage with a vicious lion. D: Seriously though, trying to get through the writer's block with this story is like trying to tunnel through a cement wall with a spork. I don't know when I'll be able to update next, but I have a couple idea's in my head. Until then, I'm working on a series of holiday-related oneshots that I will start posting on Sunday. (:

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

* * *

Summer, Day 12, Monday

"Aaaaann!" Claire wailed, bursting into the back room of the inn. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were soaked, and she looked like she'd just survived a thunder storm.

Doug looked at her strangely before Ann came out of the kitchen and threw her dad an apologetic glance. _Sorry, dad,_ Ann thought. _Sorry my friend is a freak. _She frowned for a moment. _Just like me!_ The revelation brightened up her mood again as she wondered what it would be like to have an identical twin. Oh, they would carry out the _greatest_ pranks in the history of Mineral Town.

"Whaaaat?" Ann mimicked, pulling Claire into her room. She sat Claire down on her bed and herself in the chair near her desk.

"I'm such an idiot!" Claire complained, hitting her fists on the mattress. "Stupid, stupid," she berated herself.

Ann sighed. "What is it this time, Claire? And stop acting like such a baby. You look silly."

Claire glared at the redhead momentarily. "Oh, shut up." _Look who's talking_.

"Okay, Claire. I'm listening. So talk," Ann commanded, ignoring the farmer's comment. She crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair, waiting for an explanation.

"I kissed Gray. UGH. It was so bad!" Claire said, flinging herself dramatically across the bed. "I can't believe I did something so _stupid_!" Throwing an arm over her eyes, she sighed angrily.

"HOLY- Wait. It was bad?" Ann's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about what exactly could have gone so badly. Was Gray a bad kisser? He couldn't be _that_ bad, right? Besides, there must've been plenty of girls that were all over him when he lived in the city. Oh, bad mental image. Snap out of it, Ann.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I went about it all wrong!" Claire was stopped by a look from Ann.

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh, you mean the kiss? Well, that was fine, I guess. Okay, more than fine. Maybe even amazing," Claire started rambling. "Especially since he is pretty cute." The blonde's self-hate session came to a pause as she recalled the kiss. "But that's not the point!" Claire yelled suddenly as she remembered why exactly she was in Ann's room.

"Then what the hell are you trying to get at, Claire?!" Ann yelled back, exasperated.

"Okay, so I was at the Goddess Pond, and suddenly Gray shows up and I fall into the water," she stopped and looked at Ann to make sure she was listening. "Anyway, he helps me out and blah, blah, blah. So I kiss him, remembering the plan. Everything was going like it was supposed to until he started kissing me back!"

"He… he _kissed you back_?!" Ann would've fallen out of her chair had it not been right up against the desk. "I can't believe… he… Gray?! Oh, wow," she sputtered out fragments of various sentences, still shocked.

"Yeah." Claire stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ann to say something else.

"So what do you think that means?" Ann asked after a few moments

"I honestly have no idea," Claire murmured. Did Gray actually _want_ to kiss me? He did ask me to the Fireworks Festival, but that was just because Mary had a date, wasn't it? Even though he said it was because he wanted us to go together. Why did men have to be damn confusing?!

"Men," Ann and Claire sighed at the same time.

xXxXxXx

Back at the blacksmith, Gray had a strange feeling that someone was talking about him. He pushed the feeling away as soon as it had come and went back to the task at hand, which just so happened to be working Claire's watering can. He needed to have it upgraded to gold by tomorrow, or his grandfather would have his hide. Or maybe his head. Knowing Saibara, he'd probably mount it and hang it on the wall. Uh huh.

As Gray worked with the watering can, his thoughts started drifting to Claire. Granted, it was _her_ watering can, and she had _kissed_ him the other day. But all that aside, the poor guy probably would have thought of her anyway.

So why had Claire kissed him? That one question plagued his mind often, and now more than ever. Before she had run off, her expression was… confusing. She looked like she'd committed a crime. Or he had. Which leads to point b. What. The. Hell.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, _that_ is point b. Gray smashed the metal with his hammer as he thought, each hit getting stronger than the last. Thinking about what had happened made him kind of mad, actually. By the time the blacksmith looked up at the clock, he realized that it was past one in the afternoon. Gratefully, he threw his hammer into one of the many bins in the workshop and stormed out of the place, not bothering to say a word to his grandfather.

"Hey, dude. Finally decided to show your face around here, huh?" Kai looked up from scrubbing the counters and grinned at the solemn blacksmith.

Gray grunted in response as he took a seat at the counter. If anyone could explain the mystery that was the woman, it was Kai.

"Women troubles?" Kai asked knowingly. Gray's expression became suspicious, and Kai threw his hands up in front of him before Gray could say anything. "I just know things."

Gray shrugged it off and nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Interesting," Kai mused. "So, who is it? It's Mary, isn't it. Haha, oh man, Gray. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," he went on, stopping when Gray started glaring at him.

"No. It's _not_ Mary." Gray paused for a minute, wondering if Kai was actually the right person he should be talking to. "Wait. What were you saying about Mary?" Gray smirked at Kai, whose face had gone pale. "Do you know something I don't know?"

"What? No way. Mary's too good for me anyway." Kai busied himself by scrubbing an already clean plate. That didn't go beyond Gray's notice.

"Egotistical Kai saying that someone is better than him, now there's a notion," Gray raised an eyebrow at the pale chef.

"What? Oh, shut up, Gray. I'm just saying that Popuri is a much better girl for me. Mary needs someone who will stick around town and help her with the library or something," Kai threw Gray an annoyed look and put the plate in one of the many cabinets.

"Suuure," Gray said, but dropped the subject.

"So, who is this girl?" Kai inquired with a lopsided grin. "Is she pretty?"

"Yeah," Gray confirmed before he could stop himself. "I mean… what does that have to do with anything?!" He pulled the rim of his cap down in embarrassment. "I'm not telling you who she is because you'll spread it all over town, but I'll tell you what happened."

"Aww, man," Kai whined, but leaned on the counter, eagerly awaiting Gray's story.

"So, this girl, she'd been looking for me all over town or so I'd heard. I found her at the Goddess Pond eventually. She fell in somehow, and after I helped her out of the water, she basically attacked me! And by attack, I mean kiss. So I just went along with it, you know. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? But after that, she just ran off like she'd done something wrong. And I think she might've said something about a cow," Gray finished.

Kai just laughed. And laughed. And laughed. After picking himself up off the floor, he managed to say, "It's Claire, isn't it?"

"What?! No, of course not!" Gray lied, but his cheeks contradicted him by turning a slight pink.

"Dude, it's no use lying to me," Kai said, still laughing. "Besides, you're blushing. Man up."

"Shut up," Gray said gruffly. "And you aren't helping."

"What do you want me to say, man?" Kai shrugged. "I may be good with the ladies, but I'm not a know-it-all. Maybe you should just go ask Claire about it. The answers aren't always so complicated, you know."

Gray took a deep breath and rested his head in one of his hands. "Women."


End file.
